Illegal to have no access to the back?

MaggieBaking

Looking into buying a house, the house has been heavily extended and now there is no way to access the back or the side of the property unless you go through the house. (It's a semi and the other side has been built right up to next door's fence)

Is that legal? Can't seem to find much info online, a little niggle says it just can't be right, can't take through a wheelie bin, or a new shed etc - if it doesn't fit through the front door then we can't have it :undecided:

Any advice appreciated!

Aleem

No, it isn't a crime if you don't leave access to the rear of a house from the front, or side for that matter.

missusjen

I looked into this about 15 years ago when I was going to buy a house and I'll second Aleem - it's perfectly legal.
I think for fire safety I'd want to be able to get far enough away from my house that I didn't burn to death in case of fire, so we didn't buy it as it had a short, wide garden. That probably makes me a bit overly-cautious, but the house I did buy turned out to be great

daveyjp

OP has obviously never heard of a "through terrace", which are still being built in their thousands.

frisbeej

daveyjp wrote: »

OP has obviously never heard of a "through terrace", which are still being built in their thousands.

I thought that a through terrace was where there was a back alley between terraces?

Tiglath

I live in a terrace, and you can only access the back through the house because there's a railway line at the bottom of the garden.

Frogletina

There are still back to back houses in Leeds where terraced houses are not only attached to houses at either side but to the one at the back as well.

moneyistooshorttomention

Crikey. I didn't realise that there really are such things as "back to back" terrace houses still:eek:. Bad enough to have a neighbour attached to one or both sides, but back as well and not even a "courtyard garden":eek:

So, obviously perfectly legal then. I recall in my last area that there were lots of Victorian terrace houses and some of them had no back alley and therefore no access at all to the back yard except through the house. There are some advantages to that, ie no-one can walk up through your side garden and "surprise" you in the back garden.

xcarlyx

Would you be content with not having a wheelie bin though?

teneighty

There did use to be legislation requiring access to rear gardens in new houses back in the 1980's, I think it may have been The Building Act or The Public Health Act 1936 but not sure and I can't be bothered to read through them to check. I remember that it was something the local council Building Regulations departments used to pick up on applications. It was something to do with not having to carry full bin bags through the house as it was considered a health risk.


Developers started getting around it by building small bin stores by the front door.


It certainly does not seem to be enforced anymore so I suspect it has been withdrawn. That's probably why everyone has a collection of multi-coloured recycling bins festooned across their front garden. So now it is probably just a matter of personal preference rather than statutory legislation.

peachyprice

xcarlyx wrote: »

Would you be content with not having a wheelie bin though?

In some area you have no choice, either way.

Here wheelie bins are compulsory, if you don't have one you don't get your rubbish collected (except at christmas). Where my mum lives wheelie bins are banned, if you put one out they won't get emptied.